Avengers Infinity War: Was the Soul Stone reveal seriously underwhelming for all the hype built up?
By Paul Zuniga
Everyone knew the Soul Stone would appear in Avengers: Infinity War but no one knew how and where. Now, however, we know where the stone was held and the reveal wasn’t at all what we expected.
Before Avengers: Infinity War premiered, one of the biggest questions fans had was where the Soul Stone was being held. Every fan had their own guess as to where the stone was being held, some fancied the idea behind Heimdall holding it, others thought the stone could be in Wakanda, but as it turns out, the Soul Stone’s location was in one place no one could’ve predicted.
(Spoilers ahead, you’ve been warned)
Towards the midway point of Avengers: Infinity War, Thanos takes Gamora captive. After he learns that Gamora knows where the stone is, he interrogates her. Gamora refuses to answer his questions until Thanos shows her how he’s torturing Nebula. Just when Thanos is about to obliterate Nebula, Gamora comes out and tells him that the Soul Stone is on Vormir.
On the planet of Vormir, Thanos and Gamora encounter the Soul Stone’s guardian, the Red Skull. Yes, the Red Skull from Captain America: The First Avenger has finally made his return.
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Upon meeting with Skull, Thanos asks where the Soul Stone is. Red Skull tells of the stone’s origins and then what Thanos must sacrifice if he wants the stone. Gamora breaks out in laughter when she learns that Thanos has to sacrifice the life of a loved one. Although, Thanos turns to her with tears in his eyes, confirming that he does love Gamora. He then drops Gamora off a cliff, bringing the Soul Stone forth.
Reaction to Soul Stone reveal in Avengers: Infinity War
While the return of Red Skull was interesting and likely integral to the Soul Stone’s origins, the whole plot behind it seems kinda stale. It wasn’t teased in any prior Marvel movie, nor were any hints dropped in any of the accompanying Marvel series released. Plus, Gamora never spoke of the stone and she supposedly had a map to its location. Unless we’re missing something here, that part of Gamora’s story wasn’t told in Guardians of The Galaxy Vol 1. or Vol. 2 so it’s difficult to see how Gamora was the key to finding the Soul Stone.
Additionally, the Red Skull guarding the Soul Stone seems like a farce altogether. All of his motivations in The First Avenger were to rule the world, now all of a sudden, he’s this majestic being who guards an Infinity Stone, something doesn’t smell right. If anything, the Red Skull would’ve scoured the world of Vormir to find life and dominate it. Who knows, he might’ve even taken a Kree ship to another world. Vormir is a Kree controlled planet after all.
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The point is that the Soul Stone’s reveal in Avengers: Infinity War was less than deserving of the hype built up beforehand. Had there been more exploration beforehand we could say there was a decent amount of buildup. But since that’s not what happened, it’s fair to say the Soul Stone reveal was less than thrilling.